Monday, June 2, 2014

another wedding

The second grandkid on Dave's side of the family tied the knot not too long after the first (back HERE).

This time it was our first nephew. The one who went to Stanford and married a girl he met there who is an amazing musician who has traveled the world and also attended Cambridge.

Yep, this is a power couple for sure.

The kindest and sweetest kind of power couple you could ever ask for. Honestly, they were so incredibly gracious and classy. And the wedding was gorgeous.

But let's start at the beginning.

Back when all nine kids in Dave's family started to gather in North Carolina. All nine kids were able to figure out how to get there. There were a few spouses who couldn't get there, but nine kids is pretty good if you ask me.

Here's the group that arrived in from the desert late one night:

And here we are when we met up with some others at the Bed and Breakfast where we stayed:

As you can see, we were pretty excited to get together :)

We stayed at this beautiful bed and breakfast they reserved for us.

It's called the Lion's Gate.

This is how we had breakfast each morning:

The first morning the girls headed out to the bridal brunch

...in this beautiful home:

We experienced some great southern hospitality.

...and celebrated with the cute bride and bridesmaids.

Here are all the sisters and sister-in-laws:

We had a little time after that before the rehearsal dinner so we decided to take a road trip to see Duke University. We had a little complication with trying to fit too many in our rental van.

I tried to sit here but they wouldn't let me:)

Luckily we figured it out and got to Duke in one piece.

I love this place. I have had the opportunity to spend a good bit of time there for a few BBS conferences in the past (back HERE and HERE) so it was kind of fun to be back in my old stomping grounds.

That cute girl on the left, by the way, is our nephew (the little brother of the groom)'s girlfriend Leah. She was so good to put up with being stuck with us all day. So fun to get to know her better. Our nephew (her boyfriend) is in a really cool band called Vinyl Theater. You should check it out HERE and HERE. They are really good.

We stopped by the Raleigh temple as well. It was gorgeous. I had to go "touch" it for my kids. There's a quote I love that says: “If you let your children touch the temple it will touch them.” More about that back HERE.

These roads...

Definitely not in the desert any more.

On to the rehearsal dinner:

Bride and groom on the right below:

Little brothers on the left. (And cute friends surrounding.)

We couldn't resist taking advantage of the beautiful light and doing some family pics.

Dave's parents with all nine kids:

The boys:

The girls:

Love them all.

The next day we walked to a big farmer's market in the morning. Say some cool sights on the way:

This was a really cool market. SO many vendors for as far as your eye could see.

That afternoon was the big wedding.

They got married under the most beautiful humongous oak tree on the farm where her grandfather was born.

See that house back behind them below?

That's the house he was born in.

While they were taking all the wedding pictures we took our own.

All the girls:

All the boys:

Yeah, we are goofy.

The great parents:

Girls with in-laws included:

The reception was in a huge white tent looking out over the oak tree and this:

Have I mentioned before that this family has got the moves?

Like, serious moves.

I just love seeing them all together.

So grateful to these two for bringing us all together for such an awesome event.

The part I liked best about the dance was that the DJ had the moms dance with their sons. I loved watching Dave's mom up there with her four boys.

There was also a dance for the dads with their daughters. I don't know why I can't find that picture because I know I took one, but maybe not because I was tearing up a little.

To see Dave's Dad with those four girls of his, eyes brimming with tears of gratitude.

It was a tender moment.

They also had all the couples dance. Every few minutes the earliest-married couples had to move off until only the ones married the very longest were dancing away.

Dave's parents, just one month shy of their fiftieth wedding anniversary, lasted the longest.

We are celebrating that this weekend...much more to come, but man alive, they are good people and am I ever glad they found each other fifty years ago.

One more big huge group hug/dance at the end, with the bridal couple starting, then the parents joining, then grandparents and siblings, etc.

By the end of the song it was just a huge group of love.

It was a magical night. To see the real professional photographer pictures, click HERE. They are really awesome.

We ended off the trip by going to a place called "Lumpy's" for ice cream.

They even gave us each original Lumpy ice cream scoops.

Man I love North Carolina.

And boy oh boy to I ever feel lucky to be in this family. I couldn't resist talking Dave's ear off on the way home about how blessed I feel to get to be related to each of them.

Madam Queen,Please tell me you're not LDS for making such an awful comment.Honestly, I never comment on blogs, but give me a break!Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that are truly secure in their testimonies of Jesus Christ as the head of the Church have no need to nitpick other people's life. They are secure in their knowledge that we are all children of our loving Heavenly Father and have a knowledge that we each have our own journey here upon the earth. Not to mention the fact of Agency!Let the cute girl express herself how she pleases! I'm sure she's a lovely person to be associated with a great family.

No cortney I'm not lds-but so far all lds youth I've come into contact with have been clean cut, modestly dressed and very conservative. I do think she's cute-just doesn't fit the lds stereotype I'm accustomed to. I can't see why the same young women can't wear a sleeveless top but can have blue hair- very trendy and worldly. Would shawni let Elle have blue hair?

Madam Queen, Leah is not LDS. She is my nephew's girlfriend and doesn't know a lot about our religion, although we did have some good religious talks together. She comes from quite an interesting background and has come out of it all to be such a wonderful person. I get so strengthened by people like that who overcome such odds and are so strong. Loved getting to know her better.

Thanks shawni. My comments seem to come out worse sounding than I meant. I think she's really cute - it just surprised me. I wish religions didn't impose strict dress codes and would let people express themselves like this. As you said - she is still a great person. I left a very strict fundamentalist religion because of silly rules. I do still have my faith - just in my own unorganized way :) my apologies for sounding judgemental.

I apologize for coming on too strong, but it struck a chord with me. I don't like someone being called out for their appearance.Clearly, we all have different life experiences to bring to the table to learn from each other.

First of all, I just loved the photos! Thanks for sharing them! I feel like I went on the trip with you and Dave!!

I got to the photo of Dave's parents with ALL of their kids and had to pause, because that is so, so special! I also love how you all got ice cream scoops, which is just a simple, fun, thing to take home and remember that outing together.

Seriously!/ You were in NC?! I would have loved to run into you somewhere too! Was that the Raleigh Farmers Market? I am about an hour away and have never been before. Looks like I will have to check it out for sure.

The wedding looks beautiful. I also am guessing the bride is not Lds which is so fitting following the lovely post about friends of different faiths. Or I could be wrong. Either way it looks like it was a beautiful celebration!

What a beautiful wedding and such a special holiday for your family. I am so inspired by the wonderful relationships you have with yours and Dave's extended families. I would love to know some of the things you do to nourish those relationships and stay close. I am guessing you have a lot of nieces and nephews, do you do something special to remember their birthdays or give presents at Christmas time? As my number of nieces and nephews continues to grow and we're spread all across the country I worry about our relationships as a family weakening. I would love some ideas of how to maintain those relationships. Thanks so much for all you share with your blog!